Harvey Cushing was born on April 8, 1869 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the youngest child of Henry Kirke Cushing, physician, and Betsey Maria Williams. In 1902, he married Katharine Stone Crowell with whom he had five children : William Harvey, Mary Benedict, Betsey, Henry Kirke and Barbara. His primary and secondary education was in Cleveland. He received his A.B. at Yale University in 1891, and his M.A., M.D., at Harvard University in 1895. He died on October 7, 1939 in New Haven, Connecticut. Harvey Cushing began his career at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1895-96. He moved to Baltimore to work at the Johns Hopkins Hospital where he stayed for 15 years, mostly at the Faculty of Surgery. In 1912, he returned to Harvard as Professor of Surgery and also worked at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (1913-1932). In 1933, he became Professor of Neurology at Yale, a position he held until 1937. Considered a pioneer of Neurosurgery, he made several fundamental discoveries about the pituitary gland. Bibliophile and an earnest collector of books, he published many essays and other literary works, among them the 1926 Pulitzer prize-winning biography of William Osler.

Harvey Cushing was born on April 8, 1869 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the youngest child of Henry Kirke Cushing, physician, and Betsey Maria Williams. In 1902, he married Katharine Stone Crowell with whom he had five children : William Harvey, Mary Benedict, Betsey, Henry Kirke and Barbara. His primary and secondary education was in Cleveland. He received his A.B. at Yale University in 1891, and his M.A., M.D., at Harvard University in 1895. He died on October 7, 1939 in New Haven, Connecticut. Harvey Cushing began his career at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1895-96. He moved to Baltimore to work at the Johns Hopkins Hospital where he stayed for 15 years, mostly at the Faculty of Surgery. In 1912, he returned to Harvard as Professor of Surgery and also worked at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (1913-1932). In 1933, he became Professor of Neurology at Yale, a position he held until 1937. Considered a pioneer of Neurosurgery, he made several fundamental discoveries about the pituitary gland. Bibliophile and an earnest collector of books, he published many essays and other literary works, among them the 1926 Pulitzer prize-winning biography of William Osler.

Falconer Madan was Librarian of the Bodleian Library between 1912 and 1919.

Edward Williams Byron Nicholson was born on March 16, 1849, in St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands.He was a British author and librarian. In 1867, he went to Trinity College, Oxford, as a classical scholar, winning the Gaisford Prize for Greek verse (1871) and the Hall Houghton junior Greek Testament (1872). After a brief spell of teaching at the Rookery School in Headington, Oxford, Nicholson was appointed librarian of the London Institution in 1873. He reinvigorated the organization, which promoted education through lectures and a library and helped increase its activities, membership and income, as well as the quality of its library. An international conference of librarians was held in London in 1877, leading with his help to the foundation of the Library Association of the United Kingdom and the Metropolitan Free Libraries Committee. He resigned from the Library Association Council in 1881 and applied for the position of Bodleian Librarian at the University of Oxford. Nicholson instituted several reforms and improvements to the library. He obtained more space for the library in the rooms of nearby buildings, changed the system of cataloguing, acquired more books, and introduced open access to some reference books in the Radcliffe Camera. However, these changes had internal opponents, including Falconer Madan, the senior Sub-Librarian (and Nicholson's eventual successor). The battles between Nicholson and some of his staff, which included anonymous complaints in newspapers, were an ongoing problem and affected his health. He suffered a breakdown in 1901 and collapsed twice in the street in 1907. His absences from work increased, and he suffered a further relapse in 1909. Suspicious of the curators' motives, he resisted all their suggestions that he should take a leave of absence until forced to do so late in February 1912. Outside the library, he enjoyed chess, swimming, cycling, and writing limericks. He was noted for his kindness and consideration and was particularly appreciated by junior staff at the library. Nicholson was an early advocate of animal rights. He argued in his book “The Rights of an Animal” (1879) that animals have the same natural right to life and liberty that humans do.In 1876, he married Helen Grant (1850–1938). He died on March 17, 1912, in Oxford, England.